Chapter 169 — The Jade Pipa

"Wuzhen, you old thief of a nun—now that this Patriarch has this magic treasure, what can your Two-Poles Mystic Magnet Bottle do to me? I shall surely hack you to ten thousand pieces, take in your primal essence, and then torment you at leisure!" Patriarch Blue Divinity recalled that all the misfortunes he had suffered were entirely Wuzhen's doing, and his resentment rose anew. His pretty, delicate little face took on a hint of savagery—indescribably incongruous.

"Report to the Sect Master: this disciple's present plight is all the work of that old thief-nun Wuzhen. I beg the Sect Master to let me have my revenge; this disciple shall be utterly loyal and never again harbor a second heart." Blue Divinity saw a flicker of keen light in Zhou Xuan's eyes and knew his expression of a moment ago had roused Zhou Xuan's suspicion; in fright he hastened to explain, recounting his circumstances from beginning to end.

"What? You destroyed the old Daoist Qianji's mortal body as well, and his primal essence was taken by that old Daoist Dharma King Xuan Yuan? Then Kunlun is bound to suffer for it. Good! Good! Good! You have done this Seat a great service—my granting you this precious blade was well aimed." Zhou Xuan cried out his approval; Kunlun was routed and its strength greatly reduced. Now he need no longer fear them, but among the Daoist sects of the Central Plains ties ran in a thousand threads; though he had dragged Mount Shu in as a shield, there was still some trouble. Now the only witnesses who knew the truth were dead and gone, and Zhou Xuan's heart was greatly at ease.

"Hm? It seems there is one more who knows—that wilful girl called Ling Yan. If she comes looking for this Seat's trouble, this Seat will have no choice but to pluck the flower with a ruthless hand, take in her primal essence and soul, and offer them to the Nether King's Banner. They are all but mud fowl and clay dogs, not worth a single blow." Zhou Xuan felt a flat lack of interest; that his foes should be so feeble was, it seemed, a tedious business.

"Since that old nun Wuzhen has thrown in with Kunlun, she is seeking her own death. That pack of fiends under Dharma King Xuan Yuan will certainly not let them off. Since you have done this Seat no small service—though it was unintentional—this Seat will of course stand up for you. This Blood-Transforming Blade came into this Seat's hands by chance, and I had no method for refining it; but I have since worked out certain methods of control, and I shall pass them on to you as well."

The Great Formation of the Heavenly Slaughter of the Capital of Heaven had been comprehended from that very blade. By now his understanding of the formation had reached an exceedingly high plane; had it not been that the golden-body dharma form clashed with the Blood-Transforming Blade, Zhou Xuan would long since have controlled it at will. Now he passed half the refining formula to Blue Divinity, enough for him to bring forth many wondrous effects.

Zhou Xuan had originally meant to give the Blood-Transforming Blade to his eldest disciple, Liao Yanqiao, but that Liao Yanqiao's power was pitifully weak and could never have brought out its might. Blue Divinity was different: a yin deity by nature, of profound cultivation, and now possessed of a heavenly ghost's body—with the Blood-Transforming Blade his killing power would leap tenfold and more. Zhou Jing had his primal essence under restraint, and the Seven Treasures Sublime Tree in hand was the blade's nemesis besides; there was no need at all to worry that Blue Divinity might harbor disloyalty. Zhou Xuan had made many enemies now, and was in just the market for a thug of such ferocity.

"Mm. I have magic treasures aplenty, and several investiture spirit artifacts besides, yet it is still not enough. I wonder how those two foxes are faring. Now that I have a cave manor, I must naturally bring them over to cultivate—that will count as founding a sect." As Zhou Xuan turned it over in his mind, Blue Divinity, having kowtowed his thanks, transformed into his true heavenly ghost form—fearsome fangs, deep white bone, tall and huge—and retreated straight into the void to refine the Blood-Transforming Blade.

Having questioned him thoroughly, Zhou Xuan had only just obtained the manor-suppressing stele and had not yet had time to digest it, nor had his primal essence recovered. It was just the moment to need time for quiet cultivation.

Though Yunxiuzi's power had advanced greatly and the Suni Immortal Sword was quite marvellous, against a foe of the very highest order she was still no match. This time, had Xuanwu Cong not come to her rescue in time, she would nearly have become a wisp of wronged soul on the Old Daoist of Absolute Yin's Mystic Yin Banner. Zhou Xuan did not want such a thing to happen again, so he gave her the Immortal-Binding Rope for protection. The bronze mirror, the size of a washbasin, that he had taken from slaying the red dragon atop the crystal pillar turned out to be a supreme treasure of pure defence, exceedingly formidable, with a corresponding formula; he had Yunxiuzi refine it alongside him. With such magic treasures about her for protection, even should she meet the Old Daoist of Absolute Yin and his crew again, she would have no trouble safeguarding herself—she might even find a chance to land a sly blow, for after all an ancient immortal artifact like the Immortal-Binding Rope was not to be had for chaff and husks.

With a stir of his mind he sank into the manor-suppressing stele, and all that went on within the immortal manor lay within his grasp. Xuanwu Cong and the others were all refining the magic treasures they had obtained. The spiritual qi within the manor was frighteningly dense, and the manor blazed with radiance; no inner demons arose, and all was pure and at ease—greatly beneficial to cultivation. Not one of them wished to let the chance slip; having finished refining their treasures, they set to circulating their power one after another, waiting only for Zhou Jing's business to be done so they might come out and watch him refine the Tribulation-Crossing Golden Pill.

For the moment the whole cave manor was silent, and we shall say no more of each refining his treasure. Yunxiuzi, seeing how considerate Zhou Xuan was of her, was naturally delighted; yet though the two were man and wife in name, Zhou Xuan had never raised the matter of dual cultivation, and Yunxiuzi, a woman after all, could hardly bring it up herself. In truth, Zhou Xuan had entered the Way in a child's body, unstained and undefiled; though he had not yet proved bodhi, there was no impediment in it.

Enough of idle talk. Now Zhou Xuan digested the information within the manor-suppressing stele one by one into his divine sense; the vast flood of consciousness came pouring in, and at last he knew that the whole immortal manor had been forged with heavenly fire from tens of thousands of rare materials—Great-Derivation Divine Iron, Supreme Yi Golden Essence, Mount Shou Red Copper, Breath-Earth Soil, the star-river crystal sand of the Heavenly Realm, and more.

Mount Shou Red Copper in particular was rarer still. Legend held that in high antiquity the sword worn by the Yellow Emperor, Gongsun Xuanyuan, had been forged from it; ordinarily, a single fleck added to a flying sword or magic treasure would make its power leap severalfold. Yunxiuzi's God-Extinguishing Shuttle contained some of it as well—a pitifully small amount—and its power was nonetheless considerable.